The field of disclosure relates generally to a high voltage, cross-field, gas switch and, more particularly, to a cross-field gas switch capable of operation at high voltage based upon selection of a grid-to-anode distance and gas pressure within the switch.
Cross-field gas switches, such as planar cross-field gas switches, are known. Conventionally, these switches include an electrode assembly, such as a cathode spaced apart from an anode, enclosed by a gas-tight chamber. The gas-tight chamber is filled with an ionizable gas, and a voltage is applied to a control grid disposed between the anode and cathode to initiate a plasma path therebetween. The switch is operable, in the presence of an input voltage applied to the anode, to conduct a large electrical current between the anode and the cathode. The plasma conduction path may be terminated by reverse biasing the control grid, such that the electrical current flowing from the anode to the cathode is transiently drawn off by the control grid (and accompanying circuitry), so that the gas once again becomes insulating. Thus, the device functions as a gas filled switch, or “gas switch” in the presence of an input voltage and a conducting plasma.
Drawbacks associated with at least some known gas switches include operational ceilings around 160 kilovolts (kV). Specifically, many common gas switches are not designed for operation above 160 kV and tend not to be feasible for large-scale, long-term, implementation in high voltage power systems, such as, for example, electrical distribution systems operating in the range of hundreds of kilovolts.